Laburnum railway station, Melbourne

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Laburnum
Station information

Code	LAB
Distance from Flinders St	16.6 km
Line	Lilydale, Belgrave
Number of platforms	2
Number of tracks	2
Station status	Unmanned station
Station facilities, connecting transport and timetables	Link
Melway map of station	Not available
Google map of station	Link
Zone location	2

Laburnum is an unmanned railway station on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines in Melbourne, Australia. The station is located in Metcard ticketing Zone 2. It opened in 1958, and was re-built in January 2007 as part of the Middleborough Road Grade Separation Project. It was named after the high vegetation of Laburnum bushes in the area.

1 Facilities
2 Design
3 Middleborough Road Grade Separation Project
4 External links

[edit] Facilities

The original Laburnum station had two platforms with a substantial brick building on the citybound platform, and a small brick shelter on the outbound platform. It had four bicycle lockers on the city-bound platform. A Telstra payphone was located on the outbound platform, however this was removed after repeated vandalism well before the station was closed. The station was fully wheelchair accessible, as access to both platforms was primarily by ramps. Like most suburban stations in Melbourne during the late eighties, the station was a target for graffiti.

The station has not been staffed since the 1990s. Both platforms are accessible via Hillside Crescent, Thiele Court and Laburnum Street in Blackburn.There is a small gravel carpark off Thiele Ct, which is normally full on weekdays.

The new station is made mostly from steel. It has minimal facilities including seats, some rubbish bins, two ticket machines, , and some small undercover shelters. It has steel ramps and steps going from each platform.

[edit] Design

Most of the station is held up by steel stilts, in the same manner as Gardenvale and Balaclava, both stations on the Sandringham line. However, both platforms extend over Laburnum Street, and parts of the platforms are held up by concrete blocks. The station has a rail bridge over Laburnum Street which used to bend sharply, making it a very slow, narrow and dangerous corner. The bend has since been widened and the curve smoothed as part of the re-construction of Laburnum, making the street significantly safer.

Room has been left between the platforms for a future third track, which will allow the running of regular express services through to Blackburn and beyond. However, no room has been left for the construction of a platform for this track, in the same way that East Richmond railway station has four tracks, but only two platforms.

Photographs of Laburnum Station
The station prior to reconstruction	Steel support structure for old platform 1 building	Steps leading to new platform 1	Ramp leading to new platform 2

[edit] Middleborough Road Grade Separation Project

The Middleborough Road Grade Separation Project involved lowering the Belgrave/Lilydale line 8 metres below Middleborough Road. Consequently, it was announced that Laburnum Station and the bend in Laburnum Street beneath it would be rebuilt. The station buildings were demolished starting from October 28, 2006. Part of Laburnum Street was closed from mid December, Temporary undercover areas were installed and the platforms themselves remained until the start of the four week shutdown from January 1 to 29 2007. Laburnum Street was reopened in mid February 2007.

During the shutdown period (finalised on January 28th 2007), buses replaced trains from Box Hill to Blackburn. Travellers wanting to travel from the vicinity of Laburnum Station to the city needed to catch a bus from Laburnum to Blackburn, and then change to the Box Hill bus and vice versa.